Which trialist would you pick ?? : Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:31 pm  

Well now the door has been well and truly opened by the game changing Wolfpack each team could register an International award winning player to trial him ??

Well maybe Jonathan Thurston fancies playing at Hull College Craven Park on Friday... Sezer and Thurston be interesting to see if Thurston completes a successful trial

We have a spare quota spot and he’s in the UK.

Modern Rugby League just gets dafter.....

However for fun who would you have on trial ? Who’s the best player at any position you could find who’s not attached to a club?

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Wed Feb 19, 2020 11:26 pm  

Not quite up to the standard of trialist Mr Gigot, but one of our stand out players at Leigh last season was Toby Adamson. Him and his brother Luke rejected a contract offer from the club, and have still yet so sign for anyone. For obvious reasons I have not mentioned that horrible man called Ben Barba, even if he was allowed to play in the UK.

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:01 am  

I remember Warrington taking 2 brothers from Australia on trial in the late 80s. Steve and Mark Jackson. Mark made a couple of first team appearances if I remember correctly, but Steve did nothing and they were soon back in Oz. Steve then went on to score the winning try for Canberra in the grand final!

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:04 am  

Are we bending the rules to help Toronto or, have they just uncovered a long forgotten loophole ?
It's to be hoped that they dont break any rules and suffer a points deduction

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:51 am  

It was put into the rules this year IIRC that teams can have 2 amateurs on trial, nominally to get players from the community game into reserves teams to see how they get on. Toronto have seemingly found a loophole and good on them.

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:00 am  

wrencat1873 wrote: Are we bending the rules to help Toronto or, have they just uncovered a long forgotten loophole ? It's to be hoped that they dont break any rules and suffer a points deduction Not bending the rules for Toronto and nothing new. Couple of examples from recent years of other clubs using the same rule https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/pa ... to-widnes/ https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ial-484149

wrencat1873 wrote: Are we bending the rules to help Toronto or, have they just uncovered a long forgotten loophole ? It's to be hoped that they dont break any rules and suffer a points deduction Not bending the rules for Toronto and nothing new. Couple of examples from recent years of other clubs using the same rule https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/pa ... to-widnes/ https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ial-484149

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:02 am  

CM Punk wrote:

It was put into the rules this year IIRC that teams can have 2 amateurs on trial, nominally to get players from the community game into reserves teams to see how they get on. Toronto have seemingly found a loophole and good on them.

No he has been signed using a different rule entirely to that which allows 2 amateurs in reserve games only.

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:46 am  

Mr Dog wrote:

No he has been signed using a different rule entirely to that which allows 2 amateurs in reserve games only.

You have to say that this doesn't look great.
A supposed all new, very wealthy club, unable to put a squad together to get them beyond week 2 of the comp.
Maybe if they had a reserve or academy side, they may not need to do this ??

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 1:47 pm  

Mmm Tony Gigot on £0 throws a hospital pass to SBW on £1.7m and says ‘earn your money sucker ‘

Re: Which trialist would you pick ?? : Thu Feb 20, 2020 3:27 pm  

I'm presuming it's just a way of having a player until they can make the space on the cap, by either off-loading O'Brien or persuading Wilkin he can retire. Whether it's cheating the cap is a moot point, but not dissimilar to the Fielden situation at Wigan, where some of his salary was deferred to the following year,, which turned out to be a breach.

I would have thought, however, that the term "triallist" should exclude any player who has either played in the Super League or will be used in a Super League game. Having a trial for a club shouldn't involve playing immediately in the first team squad as it is too open to abuse.